One Foot In Eden: Choices
Choices shape our lives in many ways. It is impossible to go through life without making any. What we choose can define us, can close off a part of our life that, had we chosen differently, could have led to something completely different. Many things can influence our choices, from morals, to peers, to experience.
Usually, it is our own morals and opinions that decide what we do. How we were raised, what we were taught, and what we have picked up along the way. Family plays a large part in our decisions. Many people think about what someone in their family would do when faced with a difficult decision. In One Foot in Eden, Amy weighs the pros and cons of sleeping with Holland to get pregnant. She carefully thinks about what her husband would do if he found out. This may be a bad example, as she decides to sleep with him anyways. Also, simple things that we learn in school allow us to make informative judgments.
Peers also play a significant role. It is almost human nature to please others, or to fit in. Something we would not normally do, we do to make others like us. We might also refrain from acting a certain way that might prevent others from accepting us. This is why it is common that teens begin smoking, or doing some other dangerous habit, all to “be cool.”
Our experiences shape many of our choices. If we know from experience that we will get a bad or painful response to an action, we avoid that action. We will also repeatedly make choices that produce a good or pleasant effect. We face many obstacles by trial and error, and if we have done something before, we know what actions elicit what responses.
In conclusion, our choices, whether they are made from our experiences, our peers, or our morals, immensely affect our lives. The factors that influence our choices, be they good or bad, are directly related to the outcome of those decisions.
Please login to view the full essay...